Visual Basic 2012 Programmer's Reference

SUMMARY

Visual Basic provides a native set of methods for reading and writing files, including FreeFile, FileOpen, Input, LineInput, Print, Write, and FileClose. It also provides methods for working with the filesystem (such as ChDir, MkDir, Kill, and RmDir). If you have a lot of previous experience with Visual Basic, you may prefer these familiar methods.

The System.IO namespace offers many objects that provide even more powerful capabilities than the native Visual Basic methods. Classes such as Directory, DirectoryInfo, File, and FileInfo make it easy to create, examine, move, rename, and delete directories and files. The File class’s methods make it particularly easy to read or write an entire file and to create streams attached to files for reading or writing.

The FileSystemWatcher class lets an application keep an eye on a file or directory and take action when it is changed. For example, a program can watch a spooling directory and take action when a new file appears in it.

The Path class provides miscellaneous support for working with paths. For example, it provides methods for examining a path’s filename or extension, and for combining paths.

The My.Computer.FileSystem namespace provides shortcuts to some of the more useful of the methods offered by the other filesystem classes. Its methods let you create, examine, and delete files and directories. The SpecialDirectories object also provides information about the locations of system directories.

There is considerable overlap ...